New Belgium Lips of Faith (Le Fleur Misseur)

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

22oz bottle. Pours a slightly hazed golden body with a bubbly, finger-width, white head that fizzes away quickly and leaves a light, sticky lacing. Aroma is a sweet and perfume-like with a wheat malt, flowery clove, ginger pears, a bit of honey, and a slightly tart pineapple-citrus funk. Flavor is not as sweet and flowery as the aroma, but more earthy with lots of yeast. I can see how this is an attempt at Orval, but its still pretty different. Starts with a thin, earthy wheat flavor before a yeasty, slightly sour and funk, clove and honey, mild herbal bitterness comes in. Finishes a bit bready with an apricot-pear, medium earthy bitterness, plenty of spicy yeast, and a light sour funk. The bitterness and yeast flavor build slightly after a dry finish and dominate most of the medium length aftertaste. Thin bodied and smooth with a light, crisp carbonation. Overall, I see the similarities to Orval, but only slightly. Nonetheless this was a tasty beer with a nice flavor. Not too bold, but well made and solid all-around.

22 oz bottle pours golden with a white head. Aroma is yeast, clove, and citrus. Flavor is floral, herbal, with light bitterness. Drinkable and well balanced.

22oz LOF. Golden color with a small head. Atoma is odd. Some funk, some sour some earth. Flavor is earthy and a little dusty with a dry finish. Not good for me.

Bomber. A bit hazy and (almost) dandelion yellow with a bubbly white head. Aroma gives a bit of bretty funk with citrusy flowers mixed in - delicate but pleasant. Palate is quite smooth. Interesting flavors... Bretty funk and tartness blend with sweet honey-like malt and fruit esters of citrus/pineapple and clove. Finish is fairly dry with a bit of an orange rind-like bite, and the aftertaste carries smooth malt and the hops from dry hopping. The name seems fitting - having had their Dandelion Ale, I can appreciate the bittering properties of flowers. Though (to my knowledge) there aren’t any flowers used in this brew, it’s got a pleasant flowery aroma that carries through into the flavor and a bitterness that definitely makes me think of flowers - or their stems, at least. Overall, a peculiar beer, but very nice, really. Sweet, funky, and delicate.

22oz. bomber served in the new style Boulevard Chalice. Pour a pale straw with a thin white head. Aroma is promising with citrus and a hint of brett. Light bodied, fairly dry with spritzy carbonation. A little grain, some Belgian style sugar flavor. A bit of an acrid flavor in the finish. Not a whole lot going on here. I was a bit disappointed. It would be interesting to see if some time would bring out the brett a bit more.

Hazy gold color. Sour type of smell. Light flavor. Upfront taste is watery with a bite of sour bite. Finish has dry flavors. Interesting but definitely not as good as I was hoping.

Bottle from Liquor Max in Loveland. Pours hazy gold with a large bubbly white head. Aroma has light funk note over a lot of citrus, floral and breadiness. Medium plus body with firm carbonation. Flavor is estery/yeasty, fruity, and an overall funkiness. Or it could be some herb I’m not familiar with, but funk works for me. Finishes a bit fruitier than it started. Just plain delicious.

22oz Lips of Faith Bomber 9/3/09 (Sam’s Wine & Spirits-Downers Grove)-Pours a slightly hazy golden with a decent sized white head. Aroma of citrus, yeast , lemon, and herbs. Taste of the same with a bit more yeast, floral, citrus, and hops coming through. This medium bodied brew is quite tasty and well balanced. Good job.